Top 10 Scariest Animated Movies That Will Send Chills Down Your Spine

Keep your nightmare-prone kids away from these... Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 most terrifying, frightening, and disturbing animated movies. Our countdown includes movies “Seoul Station”, “The Black Cauldron”, “Monster House” and more! What’s the scariest animated movie you’ve seen? Did it make our list? Let us know down in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo for more great videos everyday!
Check out these other "scary" videos:
Top 30 Scariest Horror Movies of All Time: • Top 30 Scariest Horror...
Top 30 Scariest Movie Endings: • Top 30 Scariest Movie ...
Top 20 Creepiest Things Caught on Trail Cameras: • Top 20 Creepiest Thing...
Become a channel member to get access to special perks:
/ @watchmojo
Don't forget to play our Live Trivia games at 3pm EST for a chance to win cash! The faster you answer, the more points you get!: www.watchmojo.com/play
Have your idea become a video!
wmojo.com/suggest
Subscribe for more great content!
wmojo.com/watchmojo-subscribe
Visit our shop for awesome merch!
shop.watchmojo.com/
Your trusted authority for Top 10 lists, reviews, tips and tricks, biographies, origins, and entertainment news
#scariest #animated #movies #scarymoments #animatedscarystories

[@WatchMojo]

Did it make our list? Let us know down in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo for more great videos everyday! For more content like this, click here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rWnXfoevbLiNhrs Don't forget to play our Live Trivia (www.watchmojo.com/play) games at 3pm EST for a chance to win cash! The faster you answer, the more points you get!

[@keatonburton5636]

Next up, Top 10 Scariest KZbin Movies That Will Send Chills Down Your Spine

[@Cinenerd.Returns]

2nd

[@Reaperguy67]

@@Cinenerd.Returns no one asked if you are. It's sad how many alt accounts you have .

[@erzaender]

coraline

[@infamouswickedjokestar]

Classic Snow White animated cartoon

[@Ivosferatus]

"Animation is cinema. Animation is not a genre" -Guillermo Del Toro

[@FatFiber8096]

It’s a medium

[@SPAnComCat]

I Thought Brad Bird said that.

[@PatrickMobileHomes]

dumb; animation could be a tv show too Guillermo, if that is your real name.

[@owenlivers7105]

Haha words of an amazing cinematographer

[@annien.1727]

Walt Disney believed in the same thing, too.

[@ryukomatoi592]

When Ratigan in great mouse detective went in beast mode 😰

[@Bluetartinator8]

Nothing on every werecat scene from Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island?

[@noahschwartz4754]

It creeped me out as a kid especially when I saw Morgan moonscar become a a zombie with the green light

[@ilovegarradors]

I thought the werecats were awesome as a little kid. Buuut I also love cats so maybe that's why. That, and the monsters were real for once.

[@brianwhite9339]

@@noahschwartz4754 Or the House from H E double hockey sticks!!

[@brianwhite9339]

@@ilovegarradors Those are nothing compared to the Monster House!!

[@ilovegarradors]

@brianwhite9339 I can't give a fair opinion on Monster House as I saw it in theaters when I was 14. All I know is I didn't like it. I think it's the art style. If I don't like an art style, it's very difficult for me to enjoy the movie.

[@andrewhaase1826]

Honorable Mentions: *Felidae -This makes Don Bluth's darkest moments look like a children's birthday party. *9 -A post-apocalyptic animated feature following 9 robotic ragdolls where humanity has been wiped out by a machine uprising. *Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio -If you thought the original Disney film was dark, it is, but this one goes even darker.

[@abrahamambriz892]

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio. It deserved the Oscar through and through, but I can't deny that its concepts of what obeying the rules does to someone and, most importantly, the meaning of life and death in our choices, are more mature than before, especially with the World Wars and Italian fascism (which is close to Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan in terms of cruelty) thrown into the mix.

[@smgdfcmfah]

9 is a very good movie. It's definitely an adult themed story and it's a very dark one, at that. Even the "happy ending" is only cheerful by comparison to what came before! It could actually be turned into a pretty stunning live action movie (or even series) if someone could manage to NOT go all woke and eff it up for no reason.

[@mojo3318]

I didn't think Disney's Pinocchio was dark.

[@abrahamambriz892]

@@mojo3318 The donkey transformation was scary, and there was also some smoking in the first minutes of the movie.

[@mojo3318]

@@abrahamambriz892 Oh.

[@jesusgomez938]

Number 4 on Watership down. Rabbits are lagomorphs, not rodents.

[@brianwhite9339]

Don't forget Monster house!

[@mojo3318]

I just read an article about what lagomorphs are and their characteristics.

[@chrisrj9871]

Who's going to remember "lagomorph", though? Just keep it socially a rodent.

[@marich4n]

How tf were they supposed to know that

[@paullenoue8173]

Among all the kids I've known who saw Nightmare Before Christmas, not one of them was scared. If anything they found the oolie-ghoulies delightful in a naughty way. Now Coraline and Monster House, those two had scenes that scared several kids.

[@jcj268]

I was the opposite

[@lashinka2574]

I agree. I've never met a kid who didn't love Nightmare Before Christmas. My 8 year can't stomach much movie- wise, but she's loved that movie since she was 5.

[@mojo3318]

I've seen some of "The Nightmare Before Christmas", trailers of "Coraline", and the full movie of "Monster House". I want to see the full movies of the first two mentioned. Also, I was scared when seeing them.

[@eddiejoewalt7746]

really DUMMY DON BLUTH FILMS ARE BETTER THEN THOSE PY FILMS LIKE CORALINE!

[@eddiejoewalt7746]

PLUS PERFECT DARK IS 10X BETTER THAT THAT SFEST THAT IS STOP MOTION C

[@Animeguy300]

Coraline has the most scariest scenes from my childhood

[@TheRisingStorm316]

Coraline never scared me

[@SuperUltraSaiyan]

​@@TheRisingStorm316same 😅

[@ZekeL-nq8im]

The only one who was scared of this was my mom

[@markmaioli4]

Coraline creeped me out and I was in my 40s!

[@fuckgoogle8661]

Then you can’t watch now what I was watching at 4.

[@user-qq4ii3xl4k]

I think Felidae really deserved to be in the list

[@cedricjoshuapayne]

Wizards (1977) was pretty wild. So was Heavy Metal (1981). I'm not sure if they belong on the list, but they were pretty wild!

[@fuckgoogle8661]

I always found them both highly overrated and disappointing.

[@Trekapedia]

I agree with you @cedricjoshuapayne and Heavy Metal is in my top ten.

[@smgdfcmfah]

@@fuckgoogle8661 I was a fan of the magazine Heavy Metal so the movie disappointed me a bit, too. I still enjoy it, but they should have gone much "Heavier" with it - like the magazine.

[@fuckgoogle8661]

@@smgdfcmfah I feel like it brought down the mag and a lot of stuff then didn’t get a chance. It would be nice if some of the material actually got a chance and was treated fairly. The movie was so inferior art wise but was the writing comparatively was just utterly insulting.

[@smgdfcmfah]

@@fuckgoogle8661 They definitely didn't do the mag any justice - second one was just embarrassing. They really focused on the music - I remember all my friends had the album.

[@caweakley]

As a proud Bunny-Dad, I'm just gonna nitpick and tell WatchMojo that rabbits are not rodents. They are lagomorphs. Please make a note of it. That said, yeah, "Watership Down" is kinda creepy, but was never intended for children (as was the book it's based on). And "The Plague Dogs" was made by the same studio. Maybe not as unsettling as "Watership Down", but it is soul-crushingly depressing. Quite possibly the most down-beat movie I've ever seen, animated or otherwise.

[@jwace]

Ever see Grave of Fireflys? I def want to check out Plague Dogs now...never heard of it

[@JoeMama-ij6kc]

Yeah it wasnt aimed at kids i think ignorant people assumed so cos its "a cartoon"

[@duncancurtis5108]

Went to see WD in 1979. Only the final bloody battle was cut out but it did include the live burial of the bunnies with bloodshot eyes. 😮

[@Saddonghussein]

By ignorant people you mean everyone who calls the Simpsons a cartoon too? Because it's an adult cartoon ​@@JoeMama-ij6kc

[@JoeMama-ij6kc]

@@Saddonghussein the same people who think the simpsons is aimed at kids yeah

[@hughbakhurst4344]

Surprised not to see James and the Giant Peach on here

[@mojo3318]

That's my childhood!

[@SouthJerseySam]

Nice to know Mad God got a spot on the list. Phil Tippett doesn't get enough credit for his work.

[@knightofarkronia9968]

Honestly, what was shown in the video made me feel genuinely uncomfortable. And animation almost never does that to me!

[@CaptainCretaceous91]

I onky know his dinosaur work.

[@N8_Mitchinson]

💯

[@combatcarl]

Honestly was ranked kind of low, especially because it's the only film on the list meant to be depressing, gross, nihilistic, and dark on tone, setting, and story.

[@ZeldaSam1]

I'd describe it as more of a WTF film...

[@CandiceVidito]

Watership down... nightmare fuel in movie form

[@waheedabdullah6371]

Justice League Dark Apokolips War. You don't find it scary if a huge tyrannical god can tear you in half with his laser beams, turns you into an evil cyborg, transports lava onto your planet, inserts a poison radiation in your veins, or forces you to run on a treadmill for 2 years without any food even when you have a fast metabolism?

[@brianwhite9339]

They forgot Monster House!

[@scottyi88]

meanwhile lucifer just chilling in his club in los angeles😂

[@brianwhite9339]

@@scottyi88 Was he by any chance Nebbercracker's Realstate agent?

[@dafilmqueen556]

Oh yeah, that one. And Batman Under The Red Hood. Sure, it is more violent than scary, but the film does convey its horror that way. I mean, this movie literally begins with the horrific murder of a teenager. Then you have that same pubescent dead boy, the titular antihero/villain's first act being a bunch of decapitations. Oh yeah, then there's that part where a thug gets burned alive by his own cocktail fire, followed by a thrilling fight scene where at the end of the fight the last bad rogue standing is shocked alive and his blood splatters on the walls of a nearby building, his screams implying his horrific death. DC is really scary when you think about it, and we know it..

[@mojo3318]

@@brianwhite9339 I watched it as a kid! I loved it!

[@corymorimacori1059]

“Fish puppets and muppets to stir the fears up, I squeeze screams outta chocolate syrup!” Alfred Hitchcock

[@SoTenshi]

Felidae...it scarred me. I was like oh a little murder mystery with cats sounds right up my alley, no, NO. I have regrets.

[@rosario508]

Watership Down scarred me for life

[@duncancurtis5108]

It's a PG now.

[@smgdfcmfah]

I saw it in theater when I was 9 - I loved it. I loved it for all the reasons anyone might like that movie, plus it was animated which does appeal to kids, but mainly I loved it because it didn't treat me like a little kid. Back then every movie wasn't made with toddlers in mind, we watched the movies that adults watched, so a cartoon (supposedly for kids) made with an edge containing violence, blood and death perfect. Loved the animated Lord of the Rings back then, too - hooked me on Tolkien for life.

[@WatchMojo]

[@Trekapedia]

There was one animated one about Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn and Becky Thatcher that was claymation from back in the day. That one creeped me out especially when they find Injun Joe and he comes VERY close to stabbing the kids.

[@pauljackson8307]

That was called The avengers Mark Twain

[@revanreborn9658]

Barefoot Gen is one good option as well. The Nuclear bomb scene is still very disturbing to watch

[@darthstarkiller1912]

That scene was truamatizing to me. Never want to see it again and I keep praying to God that something that monstrous will never be used again.

[@javiersantanaaviles5885]

When you mix animation with terror, you create masterpieces

[@kissedbypalefirex]

i remember Secret of Nimh..."experiment" scene with the rats & i remember the death of Nicodemus. I do remember an animated movie when i was little it was a "chinese cinderella" & the fairy godmother was a magical talking goldfish, cindy's stepmom & sis captured the fish then cooked & ate it & then presented the bones to cindy ..that freaked me out

[@kittylover62]

I remember that version of Cinderella! I can't remember the title though

[@mojo3318]

I don't remember any of that. It has been years since I've seen "The Secret of NIMH". I just looked up Nicodemus and found out that there's a book called "The Rats of NIMH". Also, my class read the book "Cinderella" in elementary school and the story took place in China. The book had names of the other characters. Jin, one of the stepsisters, killed Ting-Ting, the magical talking fish.

[@grandthanatos]

Perfect Blue is awesome! One of my favorite movies of all time. So deserving of the top spot.

[@tristenallen6693]

Coraline is the sole reason why I don't trust anything with buttons for eyes

[@Jeremiah_Rivers76]

Somehow, I remember “Night on Bald Mountain” from _Fantasia_ more than “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” but not because the former was a spine-chiller. It’s because I thought Chernabog was a hacked-off creature who only needed some sleep, hence why he showed his supposedly scary side. Now, _The Black Cauldron,_ Disney crossed the fear factor line with that one.

[@abrahamambriz892]

The Black Cauldron had 2 deleted scenes. The first was a highly sexually suggesting one where the princess would fight half-naked after her dress was torn apart in combat (if Disney left this on the final cut, it would be their first serious moment of fanservice, something little kids aren't ready for yet until they hit 13 or something), the second scene shows knights melting into a moldy pulp of meat.

[@mojo3318]

@@abrahamambriz892 I haven't seen "The Black Cauldron", but I didn't know it had deleted scenes. I wouldn't mind seeing them.

[@abrahamambriz892]

@@mojo3318 Well, the rotting flesh scene is so gory it fits in a Ralph Bakshi movie more than a Disney one, and I think you can find it here on KZbin. The scene where the princess gets stripped in battle was left unfinished and some sketches are still missing.

[@mojo3318]

@@abrahamambriz892 Oh.

[@user-gi8pk9uc7q]

The "Night on Bald Mountain" sequence of "Fantasia" used to scare the shit out of me when I was a kid!

[@fuckgoogle8661]

That was the only thing even remotely good about it.

[@user-gi8pk9uc7q]

@@fuckgoogle8661Really? What didn't you like about the rest of the movie?

[@fuckgoogle8661]

@@user-gi8pk9uc7q slow, boring and uninteresting. And I’m an animation junkie and watch silent films as well. I dislike most all Disney films. Pretty much loathed them as a child. The best one they ever made was easily the emperors new groove. As a kid under ten in the 80s I preferred Japanese animation and things that were strange or graphic or very well made. My favorite movies that I saw in theaters as a kid were things like angel heart, Robocop, total recall, the fly. I really just wanted things that were interesting or impressive so of course I loved terry Gilliam movies and aliens, worlds I guess. My first movie was Excalibur and I watched that hundreds of times starting at 2 or 3. And tranzer z was my first animated obsession. That’s still ingrained in my brain. Crazy robots with missle breasts and what not. I loved it.

[@user-gi8pk9uc7q]

@@fuckgoogle8661Huh, well, "Fantasia" was one of the things that got me into classical music!

[@jeronmortensen9160]

Night on bald mountain didn't scare me as a kid, but the fight between the T-rex and Stego was stressful to me. Your basically watching animal predation in animated form and animation is supposed to be wholesome in the mind of a kid. Freaked me out.

[@mikememine1423]

Can't believe you didn't have Heavy Metal at least in the honorable mention section... some of that made my skin crawl, and I was 16 then

[@fuckgoogle8661]

I saw that the first time and I wasn’t 10. Completely disappointed. A highly overrated movie. Definitely nothing scary.

[@Trekapedia]

@@fuckgoogle8661go shut up. To quote a wise woman, who told you it was open Mike night? Heavy Metal is a good movie.

[@DznyOddity]

Coraline scared me so much just by the trailers when it first came out.

[@parisalevin]

Mad god is one of my favorite films. It is such an original piece of horror, and truthfully articulates the feelings of pain and suffering through visuals. Also the commit,ent Phil Tippet put into it is fucking admirable.

[@randomreviews4278]

Bet you Watership down is on here

[@paulpavlus6664]

And you are right!

[@FJYoko-nl7yq]

I was scared by a lot as a kid - I was the kid who was afraid of his own shadow. Not anymore, but still to this day, I cannot forget the movie "9". Oooh, boy. That animation was so good, and it was so chilling. Especially nearing the end. I really wanna rewatch it just for the nostalgia. The nightmare scene from All Dog's Go To Heaven, and the ending also creeped the shit out of me as a kid Also, side note, why were animated movies from the 80s so frickin good and clean?

[@mojo3318]

Was the nightmare scene one of the dogs getting hit by a car 🚙? And what was scary about the ending? It has been years since I've seen it.

[@mojo3318]

Never mind. I looked up what happened at the end of "All Dogs Go To Heaven".

[@dreamguardian8320]

Should've added Disney's the Legend of Sleepy Hollow to this list.

[@markmovieman442]

9 was pretty unnerving

[@slytex1952]

I was well into adulthood when I saw 9. It still messed with me quite a bit.

[@BurrShotHam711]

9 was a great movie

[@darthstarkiller1912]

The "Night on Bald Mountain" sequence in "Fantasia" horrified me when I was little. Would always stop the videotapr before it. Didn't have the guts to see again until I was 10. I'm 32 now and while the animation is phenomenal, it still gives me the chills.

[@mojo3318]

I've never heard of "Night on Bald Mountain".

[@joshuakline1435]

Brave Little Toaster didn't terrify me.

[@Reaperguy67]

Same here. I know Disney plus has it

[@Zacman1123]

@@Reaperguy67 The sequels are but not the original.

[@Reaperguy67]

@@Zacman1123 that's your opinion

[@combatcarl]

Brave little toaster had the cutest character writing and designs meant to lul you into a sense of "you're watching a family movie" then it'll hit you with the most vivid depictions of spontaneous character deaths and will leave a viewer with a need to go huh a puppy or something lmao. Not really scary just surprisingly unpleasant.

[@victoriasalter1701]

I’ve seen “Titanic”. I’ve seen “Hachi: A Dog’s Tale.” I’ve seen “The Lion King”. I’ve seen some of “My Sister’s Keeper.” I’ve seen “The Fox and the Hound.” I’ve seen “Marley and Me.” And I have to say, “The Plague Dogs” is the number one saddest movie I have ever seen. For all the bellyaching about “Marley and Me” and “Hachi: A Dog’s Tale”, Marley lived a great life and just came to the natural end of his life where he had to be put down. Hachi also lived a great life with his man and was loved and cared for, and it is a great and inspirational movie about loyalty and love (and an Akita!) On the other hand, in “The Plague Dogs”, besides a bit of joy in the friendships and love they had for each other and Tod the fox, for practically the entire movie, the dogs knew nothing but cruelty, suffering and persecution. One of them was betrayed by his carer’s family after the man who loved and cared for him died, and both dogs were tortured in the laboratory, along with the rabbits, rodents, monkeys, other dogs and any other animals in the laboratory. However, this movie does send a great message against animal testing, and I do kindly urge animal lovers not to avoid content about animal cruelty as it is important to expose ourselves to such awful subject matter in order to educate ourselves so that we can make better choices and take action on behalf of the animals. We can and will change the world for the better!

[@nicorusso1526]

Spirited Away scared the absolute 💩out of me rhe first time I saw it. I know it is a throw back but a good one nonetheless!

[@Reaperguy67]

I remember that one. It's been ages for me since I last seen it.

[@nicorusso1526]

@@Reaperguy67I saw it when I was 4 or 5.

[@Reaperguy67]

@@nicorusso1526 I honestly can't even remember what age I seen it

[@nicorusso1526]

@@Reaperguy67 it was decent and definitely fits the theme of this video. I’m not a huge anime fan but likes that one.

[@Reaperguy67]

@@nicorusso1526 you are right

[@jessemontalvo9640]

Honestly although some of these movies used to terrify me when I was a kid, the one movie that would chill me to the bone, was Finding Nemo.

[@christopherthompson1011]

Shout out to curage the corwardy dog. Even though it wasn't a movie, that man went through hell on earth in that tv shows 😂😂

[@Reaperguy67]

That was one of my favorites growing up. Lol

[@Bluetartinator8]

Well there was Scooby-Doo meets Courage the Cowardly Dog movie

[@rickmartinez3268]

The brave little toaster is spot on

[@olvialee7221]

Had a feeling Monster House was going to be on this list. When I was a kid, you have no idea how many nightmares I got from this movie. This movie scared the living shit out of me. Very sorry for my language but I have to be honest

[@supermindtherorizer42]

It would scare me pretty bad too!! When I was much younger I could not get through the other half of the movie for the life of me! It probably wasn’t around until I was 16 or 17 that I was finally able to get through the whole movie! It was the exact scene this video mentioned where Chowder looks back and the house makes that face. Scared the hell out of me and I would always turn the tv off right there! I even at one point had a nightmare where the Monster house merged with the Polar Express world. I still remember most of it to this day. A train had come alive like the monster house and started chasing me! It was freaky as hell!!

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

Unicorn wars is so disturbing

[@Lynxan]

Thank you, this was one of my first thoughts and was starting to think no one else had heard of it.

[@Thrillseeker420]

Believe it or not, The Secret Of Nimh was my favorite animated movie ever. I don't exaggerate when I say I've seen it a hundred times. It's funny, but I miss the days when animated kid's movies could get away with that sort of content. Nowadays every kid's movie or tv show is scrutinized under a microscope for anything offensive, and we've lost a lot of opportunities to put in some kid-unfriendly moments. It's very sad.

[@dreamguardian8320]

Agreed. Don Bluth really did a good job trying to prove that 2D animation is not just for kids, but for teens and adults too.

[@AngeliqueStP]

If that was true... we wouldn't have gotten Coraline, Corpse Bride, and Kubo and the Two Strings.

[@johnseelinger9803]

The clown scene from "The Brave Little Toaster" scared me a lot when I was a little kid. Years later, when I watched the scene for the song "Worthless," it sent chills down my spine a few times as the cars sang about their misfortunes before getting smashed by the crusher. "The Nightmare Before Christmas" is my favorite Halloween movie. When I first watched it, the only parts that really scared me were when that scarecrow at the beginning of the song "This Is Halloween" first appeared, and during the opening part of the song "Jack's Obsession" when the vampires sang: "Something's up with Jack." Those words scared me because I thought something bad happened to Jack.

[@srbrant5391]

So many gems you missed: Heavy Metal Fantastic Planet AKIRA Fritz the Cat Barefoot Gen Waltz With Bashir The End of Evangelion Coonskin The Animatrix Cool World

[@smgdfcmfah]

I found Fantastic Planet quite disturbing when I was a kid. I remember seeing it on TV in the late 70s and thinking "WTF is this?"

[@damainortiz]

The Secret of Kells should’ve been on here TBH if any of you know what that movie is.

[@AngeliqueStP]

I have the "Irish Folklore Trilogy" set including: The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea, and the conclusion, Wolfwalkers. My advice? ...Get it because it's worth every penny.

[@anikalane9704]

I remember seeing coraline with my dad when the movie came out. I am kind of surprised that movie didn’t scare me. It definetly is one of the best and one I always love to watch.

[@G1Grimlock94]

Monster House also scary

[@jacobwaters1147]

Perfect Blue deserved to be on Shudder

[@jabberwock6]

I don't have shudder but does it have anime on it?

[@danielshults5243]

For everyone who was scarred by Watership Down, I cannot recommend the book enough. While there is a lot of loss and hardship, it has a really poignant ending that I still think about to this day.

[@GrimR3ap3r86]

I hate when people say cartoons are for kids. I'm like have you seen any cartoons at all?

[@smgdfcmfah]

But cartoons WERE for kids - just not necessarily 5 year old kids. There's no doubt that a cartoon can show some nudity, scary images, blood and violence and be far less "disturbing" than the identical scenes done in live action. Animation is surreal, so the mind looks at it as something less-than reality and automatically "fantasy". I think that's why truly harsh animation is disturbing (in a positive way) for so many people - because it has a built-in amount of shock value just by having a "cartoon" do something "adult".

[@The_Raven_Lord]

I saw The Nightmare Before Christmas when I was 2. I don't think I was ever afraid because I was too young to think "spooky" and only thought "yay cartoon!" Years later it's one of my absolute favorites and I'm obsessed.

[@mojo3318]

I've seen part of it when I was 13. I want to see the full movie!

[@MidwestComet]

I'm so happy The Brave Little Toaster made this list, lol as a kid they really made it frightening. Especially that junkyard scene

[@rickcontreras1394]

I was thinking perfect blue the whole video and you guys nailed it 😊

[@s.t.a.y.g.o.l.d]

thank you for putting the brave little toaster on here! i knew i wasn't the only one who had an irrational fear of that junkyard scene 😭😭😭😭

[@maxxymrice6200]

Unicorn Wars came out only two years ago and looks adorable at first, but its one of the darkest films I've ever seen.

[@Robin-uj4bo]

I’d say Watership Down or Coraline as #1. Also should have had an honorable mention to Chicken Run.

[@guitaoist]

I grew up with the brave little toaster, i loved how dark it was and just loved that style of animation

[@BCFBreakfastClubFan]

IMHO, Snow White was always underestimated or what it was. It was a horror movie, plain and simple. Yes, it had some playful and fun parts, but the slowly mounting horror is not to be denied. Even scarier, was Sleeping Beauty. That movie gave me nightmares. It was terrifying for a young child. The Rescuers was pretty scary, too. I remember when Coraline came out, I thought "a horror movie for children? That's a cool idea!". Then I realized how terrifying so many of the movies I grew up watching are. Not sure which one is scarier. They're all nightmare inducing.

[@ilovegarradors]

The shrunken head in the Nightmare before Christmas scared the hell outta me as a little kid. I couldn’t watch that scene for the longest time.

[@mojo3318]

I've seen "Monster House", "The Secret of NIMH", trailers for "Coraline", and some of "The Fright Before Christmas". I forgot how scary "The Secret of NIMH" was and I want to see the full movie of "The Fright Before Christmas". I also want to see all the other movies on this list. They seem great! That dragon in "The Black Cauldron" sounded like a dinosaur when it roared. One of the streamers I watch saw that movie as a kid. That girl in the movie looks so nice! So does Coraline!

[@teresadixon2899]

After watching the animated Hobbit when I was little, my mom still refuses to watch the live action version. When I was mad at her, I'd imitate Gollum.

[@ellnats]

thanks to steve reviews, i see allot of these daily

[@DravenGal]

How is "Akira" not on this list? That movie is gruesome with terrifying characters. I know I'm not the only one it scarred for life.

[@mystictulip5304]

When I was really young I mistook the VHS tapes of The Plague Dogs for Homeward Bound when I used to stay at my grandparents' place. I still watched it because It was a animation movie with dogs. I was really scared when the little dog accidentally shot the human, even the corpse of the guy the dogs ate to survive. Even with that sad ending that makes you wonder if the dogs made it. Even now as an adult, I enjoy the movie but it's still sad to watch.

[@Saturn_13]

Just saying... I don't really think you can put “Coraline” or “Nightmare Before Christmas" on the same list as “Perfect Blue.” Coraline is rated PG meanwhile Perfect Blue is literally rated R. Yeah, both films can be deemed “scary” but in extremely different ways for very different audiences. Coraline has a possibility of freaking out kids at some points, but Perfect Blue is pretty much real world nightmare fuel for adults almost beginning to end. Animated doesn’t automatically make it for kids and to even allude to that can get really troublesome really quickly.

[@davidgarner7948]

The secret of nym traumatized me as a kid. Especially the sinking house part. Pretty sure I had to hide my face on that part.

[@bluknight99]

"The Black Cauldron" is often mentioned as one of Disney's "failures", but I'd stack its production quality, story and art design against anything the studio has put out in the last 10 years or so.

[@xebenatrosxeracroft5178]

Several movies on here aren't even remotely scary, not even a little jumpy. Seems like a lot of people are easily scared these days.

[@jeronmortensen9160]

True, but jump scares don't necessarily make a movie scary. Some of these movies can just leave you unnerved, creeped out, or just stressed from watching. Lot of these did that for me.

[@xebenatrosxeracroft5178]

@@jeronmortensen9160 Several of these movies I simply don't understand how people could be scared of, let alone unnerved. However I'll admit that, the movies, Watership Down, The Plague Dogs & Perfect Blue, will definitely leave a mark on you. Still trying to figure out how people were scared by Black Cauldron, even to this day...

[@jeronmortensen9160]

Agreed. Nightmare Before Christmas is indeed not scary, nor was Black Cauldron. Coraline, however, I found to be scary despite the fact that I was older when I saw it and was not scared by it, if that makes sense.

[@xebenatrosxeracroft5178]

@@jeronmortensen9160 I get it, I just find it strange how, there was far more than I ever thought possible. Of people who were scared or scarred by these particular movies, if these movies have that sort of impact on folks, imagine how bad it must be if they watched actual horror movies.

[@jeronmortensen9160]

Lol, agreed!

[@laurendaley2503]

We have to remember that animation Is NOT just for kids, they just tend to be more appealing to kids. I also was obsessed with Coraline as a kid, I loved watching it in the theatre for the first time (i was also the same age as Coraline at the time)

[@smgdfcmfah]

The main problem is that people think "kids" is a catch all that covers 3 to 17. I wouldn't let a 4 year old watch ANY of these, but I don't think any of them are beyond the mind of a 16 year old (also depends on the kid).

[@rebeccamcdermott9259]

I will always count Watership Down as a horror movie. It's my favourite animated movie now, but it gave me nightmares for a straight week after first watching it as a kid. But i absolutely view it as a masterpiece now. The music to the film is stunning as well.

[@Goldtiger142003]

I watched Brave Little Toaster in my early years. Can't count the nightmares I had after watching it. One I'd put forth is Black Magic M-66. When I was in my early teens, I had satellite TV (remember that?), and there was one channel that would often air anime movies or series that weren't fit for children. One of those was the aforementioned movie, which involves killer robots hunting down a single girl. The robots were sleek and very humanoid in design, and they weren't terrifying like the Terminator and its skeletal appearance, but they always had a cold, dead stare. They could move in inhumane ways at times too, making them appear more like haunted dolls. The male robot gets dealt with early, but it left a horrifying impression. The female robot however? The constant looming threat of that robot just menacingly walking towards the protagonist and victim just added so much tension. There was even one scene that took place in a slowly ascending elevator that was so absurdly intense that it really held me on the edge. I need to dig out my VHS and player so I can watch it again, assuming the VHS hasn't degraded.

[@brianhanley272]

I'm very surprised and disappointed 9 did not make this list. Very underrated movie

[@alicia27ish]

Kidnap Sandy Claws is my favorite Christmas song lololol

[@VJAllison1974]

I saw Watership Down as a kid, it scared the socks off of me. The Secret of NIMH was scary too, but nothing like Watership Down.

[@daxxmason8308]

James and the giant peach. Literally gave me nightmares with the pirate scene

[@derekberry6122]

Surprised that you guys never mentioned Dante's inferno. The movie actually follows the biblical story of Dante's traveling through the different rings of hell to rescue his love well trying to redeem himself. Each segment of them movie was actually a different animation style which actually depicts different versions of hell. And I know that it's not actually a movie but Todd McFarlane's HBO series spawn was pretty horrific as well. Another one from the past that left an impression on me was the princess and the goblin. Also surprising is that heavy metal movies was not actually included as well. There are so many that can think of.

[@mountbrocken]

I LOVED the novel by George MacDonald...and I will have to check out Dante's inferno

[@KyleShiflet13666]

Perfect blue is an absolute masterpiece it's among my favorite movies of all time

[@artsaganza8742]

good video, but i would also recommend, pink floyd's the wall and waltz with bashir.

[@lashinka2574]

Came here to say this! The Pink Floyd movie was so disturbing, and I can't really put my finger on why that is. I felt really unsettled for days after watching it, and could never bring myself to watch it again since.

[@artsaganza8742]

@@lashinka2574 i admit some of it is unsettling but many parts i really like both the music and the visuals, some of it even helped me through difficult times, and was healing for my trauma, and i didnt even see the wall until about 1994, when i was in high school and it came out in 1982. sorry you had a bad time. waltz with bashir is also upsetting but still a good movie. a version of the wall that might be better is the 1990 concert of the wall in berlin, which is the same plot as the movie but all the songs and characters are played by many different bands, and its abit more festive and silly, but great music from a wide variety such as scorpions, cyndi lauper, van morrison, bryan adams, sinead o connor, thomas dolby and more, its on dvd and maybe online.

[@Manyuken]

There are sooooo many movies that should have been on this list… Akira Blood the Last Vampire Vampire Hunter D King of Thorn Wicked City Bio Hunter Memories Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust And many more ;)

[@melanieparker]

You forgot Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night.

[@jimb.7523]

*No honorable mention for "Heavy Metal?" I love the segment with the WWII bomber and the zombies.*

[@phadephaves6183]

When the Wind Blows where is this one.

[@owenlivers7105]

I was scared of the oil monster in Fern Gulley when I was a child but I loved the movie. Some of the imagery in All Dogs go to Heaven was pretty intense, and Rock-A-Doodle...

[@duncancurtis5108]

29 years after it came out Babe still looks terrifying with the dark themes death slaughter doom and weirdly animated farm animals staring into space.

[@kidacraman6390]

Bro, the movie ‘9’ will always be number one in scariest childhood movies

[@museofsalzburg2373]

Only Watchmojo could fill a scariest movies list mostly with stuff made for kids.

[@coreypolite9831]

Water Ship Down has a special place in my memory.That and Animal Farm.

[@furkanbozdag8198]

Nice video

[@chrisbrant8214]

Justice League Dark: Apokolips War deserved a spot on this list

[@whatsinthebox7374]

Feel like Grave of The Fireflies should be on here

[@paulpavlus6664]

I'll take your word for it.

[@HighlandPants69]

"The Land Before Time." Just the first one; everything that came after it was significantly watered down compared with this very first movie in the long series. Basically, any scene with the T-Rex (or Sharp Tooth) was terrifying for me as a kid, to say nothing of all the other trials the dino-kids deal with on their journey. But, even that pales in comparison to "Wizards." This one didn't scare me so much as a kid because, at the time, I didn't understand a lot of the themes that the movie presented. Nowadays, having watched it back as an adult, I'm glad I didn't yet fully grasp what I was watching because, if I had, I likely would have had nightmares for some time afterwards. Instead, I just saw a cartoon fantasy movie, which was enough for my child brain at the time. "All Dogs Go to Heaven" is another that stood out for me because of the Hell scene. "The Adventures of Mark Twain" would be another one of my picks that, while not being scary the whole way through, did certainly have its standout moments. I totally agree with "The Secret of NIMH" and "The Brave Little Toaster," too! There are scenes from both movies that this video showed that I didn't realise I had blocked from my memory years ago until I saw them - or scenes adjacent to them - in this video. It's crazy what we were allowed to watch as kids back in the day! There are quite a few movies on this list that I don't think measure up, though. "The Nightmare Before Christmas," "Corpse Bride," "Coraline," and the alluded-to "ParaNorman" are all movies that I've seen and they all bored me to tears. Mind you, that's pretty much my take on the horror genre in general. It's become too predictable, which takes all the fun out of watching a horror, animated or otherwise. If you can guess what the next scare is gonna be, you're not gonna be scared and that renders the whole point of the movie moot, which makes it boring to watch. Either that, or I have become incredibly jaded. Or both. Also, "Akira." Enough said.

[@ken-neon19]

Coraline scared me as a kid. Today, it doesn't necessarily scare me but the concept and how the movie was executed is terrifying. Also, the book is more creepier.

[@alinkovacs6122]

Good list, but I would’ve also mentioned Wicked City and Dante’s Inferno

[@mandi8345]

Bro.....How is 9 not on this list?!?! WatchMojo, you fail so hard right now....

[@tomcat8983]

'Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre' was really good and creepy.

[@mrHellkid1]

serious whiplash in this video going between kids movies like the 10-6 then switching to a films for adults like mad god. This should maybe have been split in to two separate list for family and non-family friendly movies

[@aubrey8673]

The nightmare before Christmas terrified me as a kid and I didn’t watch it all the way through until i was 19 or 20.

[@josh72456]

I’ve only seen The Nightmare Before Christmas, Monster House, The Black Cauldron, Watership Down and Coraline.

[@lollirama101]

was waiting for "as the wind blows"